The contemplative psychiatrist, spiritual director, and author Gerald May wrote in his book Will and Spirit: A Contemplative Psychology: Water is a commonly used metaphor for consciousness and awareness in…
Some Thoughts On the Dolphins That Are (Not) in Venice
Shortly after the shelter-in-place orders started to show up at local and state governments across the land, I read somewhere — I don’t remember where — that dolphins had been…
Every Mystery is a Story
I have a guilty pleasure that I don’t think I’ve ever written about, here on my blog. Well, here goes: I’m a fan of Neil Gaiman. Years ago somebody told…
Twelve Mystics Who Lived Through Epidemics and Pandemics
It’s been over a month now since the World Health Organization has acknowledged that COVID-19 is a pandemic. As of today (4/13/20), over 22000 Americans and 116,000 people worldwide have…
The Break-Up of the Beatles — and the Fragmented Spirituality of Our Age
Fifty years ago today — on April 10, 1970 — the Beatles announced that they were breaking up. We now know that this had been brewing for at least two…
“Don’t Call Yourself a Mystic” — How Kenneth Leech’s Challenge Helped Me To Embrace Contemplative Practice
In my book Unteachable Lessons I talk about Kenneth Leech, the Anglican priest who wrote a variety of books on topics related to both contemplative spirituality and the struggle for social…
Spiritual Lessons from a Pilgrimage to Ireland
I wrote the following article in 2002, when I was exploring Celtic paganism. I found it recently while looking for something in my archives and I thought it was worth…
A Lesson on Creativity and Risk-Taking from J.R.R. Tolkien’s Publisher
Today I had a conversation with a friend who is working on a manuscript for a book to be published in the next year or so. We were chatting about…
The Sheer Sound of a Still Small Voice
“God speaks to us in a whisper,” or so said an Episcopal priest I once knew. It was one of his trademark sayings, and the idea was obvious enough: if…
Your Home is Your Abbey; Your Heart is Your Cloister
I met a woman once, many years ago, who taught writing in a prison. She had the inmates read The Rule of Saint Benedict. She encouraged them to use the spirituality…
Advice for Surviving a Pandemic from Julian of Norwich
Anyone who spends time on this blog knows that I love Julian of Norwich; just as John Ruysbroeck was Evelyn Underhill’s favorite mystic, Julian is far and away my favorite….
Called to the Prayer of Listening to Christ
God saved us and called us to a holy life, not according to our works but according to his own design and the grace bestowed on us in Christ Jesus…